Court battle for surrogate twins

Press, 22 September 1987, Page 17

Court battle for surrogate twins

NZPA-AP St Johns, Michigan

A surrogate mother fighting to keep the twins she bore under contract has been allowed to retain temporary custody, but a judge ordered her to let the father and his wife see the babies twice a week.

Barry and Glinda Huber, of Jonesboro, Arkansas, asked circuit Judge Timothy Green to send the twins to a foster home until he rules on whether the contract they signed with Laurie Ellen Yates is valid. Mrs Yates and her husband, Richard, of Ithaca, filed suit seeking to have the contract thrown out and for them to be awarded custody of the boy and girl.

The contract Mrs Yates was artificially inseminated seven times with Huber’s sperm between the couples was arranged by a Dearborn lawyer, Noel Keane, who handled the contract in the highly publicised “Baby M” case now being reviewed by the New Jersey Supreme Court. In that case, a judge ruled the surrogate contract was valid.

Judge Green has relaxed a temporary restraining order that kept the Hubers from seeing the babies, allowing two one-hour visits each week. He also appointed the Gratiot County prosecutor to be the temporary guardian of the children, assigning him to investigate both couples and report by October 28.